Wow!  It’s week 6 of the Real Food Experience already.  You can catch up on what you have missed over on the Real Food Experience page.  We’ve spent 5 weeks cleaning up our diet and dumping harmful ingredients.  We’re feeling better, but all of this cooking and cleaning has us questioning how long we can keep this up.  It’s time for some systems!

 

This week we are working on how to juggle our schedules and all of the cooking we need to do.  It’s time to clean out the cupboards, scrub down the refrigerator, and come up with some food preparation systems that really work with your schedule.  Each family is different so these systems should be unique to your family.  I have lots of tips to help and I will share those, but think about what will really work with your family.  This week is about creating those life-long systems that will help you stick to your new eating plan.  Let’s figure out how to make things easier for you.

Here are a few ideas to get you started.

1.  You’ve got to have a plan.  Over and over I hear from folks how much easier it is to eat real food if you have a plan.  I couldn’t agree more!  Make a list of your favorite meals and use that list to create a meal plan.  Don’t worry about fancy new recipes.  Use your favorite recipes and use better, more real ingredients to make them.

2.  Use “Pockets of Time” to find the time to cook.  My family has a super busy schedule full of sports, scouts, and other activities.  Most of our weeknights are full with activities.  I find that if I look for little pockets of time that I can more easily get things done.  A few minutes while I’m drying my hair in the morning is enough time to cook pasta or make oatmeal.  I grab some time before gymnastics to make breakfast for the week or chop some vegetables.  You may not have enough time to make a whole week’s worth of food all at once, but you likely have pockets of time to juggle it all.

3.  Use clear containers for your bulk foods.  I found these containers at a local discount store.  When we are talking about only having “pockets of time”, I don’t have time to waste digging through cupboards looking for things.  Make sure your staples are easy to grab and identify.

 

4.  Keep your most used utensils handy.  We all have lots and lots of kitchen tools.  Clean out your kitchen and make sure you only have the ones you use most often in the drawers and cupboards.  Store the others away and if you need them you can get them back out.  You don’t have time to dig through your drawers every evening searching for the vegetable peeler.  Make sure it is handy and ready to go.

5.  Enlist some helpers.  I know all families are different, but I know it really helps us to continue to eat real food instead of fast and processed food because we all pitch in.  My husband keeps the dishwasher going sometimes twice a day and makes meals when needed. The kids help chop, set the table…….whatever we need to get real food to the table.  I’ll be honest they weren’t thrilled to suddenly have meal-prep chores, so I had to remind them how good nutritious food is important to our family and how they are a big part of the process.

Now it’s your turn…………Time to get organized and come up with some systems to help you juggle it all.  I look forward to hearing what you come up with.  I am always looking for systems to make meal-prep easier.

I promise to keep bringing you the best and most accurate information on nutrition I can find……….and hopefully with a little bit of humor along the way as well. You can find lots of great information on this blog (check out the tabs above and the archives). You can follow what others are doing for the Real Food Experience using #RealFoodExperience. Make sure to subscribe by email so you don’t miss anything. You can also find lots of great tips, tricks, advice, and fun on my Facebook page and my other social media. Please join us and share us with your friends!